Abstract:
There are quite a number of terms such as bionics, biomimetics, biognosis, biomimicry, or even 'bionical creativity engineering' that refer to more or less the same thing: the application of methods and systems found in nature to the study and design of engineering systems and modern technology. A relatively new entry in this list is 'nanomimetics', an area of biomimetic nanotechnology that tries to duplicate what nature has been doing for billions of years on this planet - creating and manipulating complex nanoscale structures. Nanoscientists and nanotechnology researchers use the terms 'self-assembly' and 'bottom-up fabrication' in their efforts to copy the best nanotechnologist around - Mother Nature. Managing another small step in this direction, researchers now have reported the accurate replication of fragile biological nanoscale shapes normally associated with self-assembly by using a robust top-down lithographic technology. The ability to replicate biological shapes with nanoscale precision could have profound implications in tissue engineering, cell scaffolding, drug delivery, sensors, imaging, and immunology.